PLAYER INFO. ✖ Handle: Abby ✖ Contact: aim: ooblackcoffeeoo | plurk: prosodi ✖ Are You Over 16: Y ✖ Other Characters Played in Consignment: N/A
CHARACTER INFO. ✖ Character Name: Shepard, Commander Lydia ✖ Canon: Mass Effect 3; after the fall of Thessia ✖ Character Appearance:
✖ Character Age: 31 ✖ Pick A Number: 010, 111
✖ Canon Setting: The year is 2183 (give or take) and a recent discovery of ancient alien technology on Mars has launched humanity into the galactic playing field for the first time. It's a time of exploration, conflict, and expansion for the human race as they come into contact with extraterrestrial life for the first time thanks to the uncovered Prothean technology and the Mass Relays - mass effect fields capable of faster than light (seemingly instant) travel from one end of the galaxy to the other. Humans have creative the Humans System Alliance, an independent body to represent humanity in the collective of "Citadel Space" - a space which is governed by The Council: a body of government meant to represent the leading powers in the galaxy. As of the beginning of the series, only Asari, Turians and Salarians held a seat on the Council however due to the events of Mass Effect 1 humans are eventually also given a chair in respect to their rising galactic power. Though other species technically reside within Citadel space, they are technically secondary citizens in a patch of space otherwise ruled by the Council races.
In general the world of mass effect is that of a sprawling space opera: ships, armies, politics (both shady and not-so). It's a universe defined by technology, enhanced natural abilities or mutations known as 'biotics', and the unknown of dark space beyond the Milky Way galaxy. It's a universe of cultural class and social divides, all of which stands to be wiped out by a powerful race of synthetic AIs known as 'Reapers' which hail from the dark regions of space, intent on wiping out intelligent organic life in the galaxy.
Shepard herself hails from the (hopefully) familiar planet Earth. Prior to the Reaper attack on the planet, Earth was moving into a new golden age of advanced technology and culture thanks largely in part to the successful planting of lucrative colonies in the far reaches of space and the access to the wider universal economy. Earth remains divided into nation states, though all fall under the broader scope of the Systems Alliance. While this sense of unity in addition to massive leaps in technological advances has generally resulted in an average improvement of quality of life, lengthening the life span of humans and eradicating most disease, the gap between the very rich and very poor has increased dramatically in the past 200 years; while many areas on Earth are in the middle of a cultural and technical renaissance, less fortunate areas of the planet remain stuck in the dark ages (aka the 20th century), degenerating into overpopulated hell holes. Nonetheless, humans are nothing if not ingenious; and while space offers plenty of danger in exchange for potentially slim personal reward, they have a tendency to spread rapidly given the opportunity.
As of Shepard's canon pull point, Earth has become one of the foremost targets in the Reaper invasion. Those that haven't successfully evacuated from the planet are there for the long haul (not necessarily by choice) for the grueling guerrilla war against the Reapers as the planets surface is transformed into a war zone. Casualties are high; spirits of humans across the galaxy are low.
✖ Character History:
MASS EFFECT 1
Shepard was born on Earth in the year 2154 CE. An orphan, she lived on the streets until the age of 18 when she escaped a life of petty crime by joining the military. There she was recruited to the Interplanetary Combatives Training school and eventually obtained the rank of N7. She went on to lead what might have otherwise been a distinguished but not terribly historic career if it hadn't been for the mission on Akuze. What should have been a fairly routine planetary mission turned deadly when Shepard's unit was attacked by thresher maws - massive worm-like carnivorous creatures -, leaving her as the sole survivor. For surviving due to what she deemed to be extraordinary luck rather than any real kind of accomplishment, a medal was pinned to her chest and she was flung far enough into the spotlight that when it came to looking for a candidate for the first human Spectre, her name happened to be at the top of the list.
Unbeknownst to her, her examination came in the form of an assignment nominally for the purpose of testing the stealth systems of new Alliance prototype ship, the SSV Normandy. In actuality, they had jumped halfway across the galaxy to the colony of Eden Prime in order to investigate an unearthed Prothean Beacon. While meaning to recover the beacon for further study, once planetside their mission ran afoul of a rouge Spectre, Saren, who had his own plans for the device. While they ultimately managed to stop Saren from accessing the beacon, Shepard was caught in its beam and from it saw a vision. A memory. Some small piece of history jammed into her brain: of death and of destruction, something she would eventually come to recognize for what it was - a warning.
Returning to Council space, she was elevated as the first human Spectre due to her actions on Eden Prime. Pressing for the pursuit of Saren who was after something called the "Conduit", she was given command of the Normandy - though not the support of the Council. Over the course of the manhunt, Shepard gathers makes new friends, allies and enemies; it's eventually revealed that Saren was being controlled by a being known as Sovereign who eventually was revealed to be a Reaper during an attack on Saren's base on Virmire. While the information was vital and the strike to Saren acts as a pivotal turning point, one of Shepard's squad members - Ashely Williams - was killed on Virmire. Nonetheless, the information allows them to track Saren to the Prothean planet of Ilos where they uncover information about the Reaper's modus operandi from a Prothean AI left on the planet.
The Reapers are out to cull the universe of its most advanced races, as they have done before and will do again. For this they have to use the Citadel station as a huge mass relay in order to invade Council controlled space and begin their systematic assault. Using this information, Shepard followed Saren through the Conduit to the Citadel. There she confronted him, convincing him to rebel against Sovereign's control resulting in Saren committing suicide to free himself. During the attack on the Citadel by Sovereign, she ordered the Normandy to aide the Council's ship; Sovereign was ultimately destroyed, and the Council was saved thanks to the Normandy's assistance. In thanks, the Council opened a seat to a human representative for the first time and - when asked for her nomination -, Shepard suggested the human ambassador Udina for the position. However, she was determined to not become complacent; though they'd managed to defeat Sovereign, more Reapers would eventually come.
MASS EFFECT 2
Weeks later while patrolling for geth (robotic AIs previously aligned with Saren and now fighting in support of the Repears), the SSV Normandy is attacked and destroyed by a mysterious ship. Many members of the crew are killed and Shepard dies in space from a breach in her suit. Her body is recovered by the pro-humanism organization, Cerberus. After nearly two years, Shepard wakes up to discover Cerberus has brought her back to life using bioengineering and cybernetic technology - termed the "Lazarus Project." The head of Cerberus, The Illusive Man, explains that human colonies are disappearing across the galaxy and she's been brought back to life to investigate and stop the Collectors - an insect-like race that the Reapers are now working through. She is given a mission: build a team of her choosing and stop the Collectors from where they come from beyond the Omega-4 Relay, a Bermuda triangle of spacefaring from which no ship or crew has ever returned. Shepard is given command of the new Normandy SR-2 (piloted as ever by Jeff "Joker" Moreau, newly equipped with an AI named EDI. Two Cerberus agents, Jacob Taylor and Miranda Lawson, also accompany her.
Shepard builds her team by recruiting people she's worked with in the past - Garrus Vakarian and Tali'Zorah nar Rayya - and specialized individuals recommended in part by The Illusive Man. During this recruitment, they manage to pinpoint and eventually turn back a Collector attack on a human colony, though many of the colonists are collected before they arrive. Eventually the Illusive Man alerts Shepard to the location of a disabled Collector ship. Boarding the ship, Shepard and her squad encounter no resistance and they learn exactly what the Collectors are: once Protheans before the last Reaper culling, they've now been turned into Reaper slaves. Corrupted as they are, they now work solely for forwarding the Reaper agenda. Using the technology in the Collector ship, Shepard and EDI discover how to bypass the Omega-4 Relay. Before they can leave the ship, the squad is ambushed by Collectors. Though they eventually manage to escape, it's clear the Illusive Man knew of the potential ambush he was sending them into.
Though Shepard's working relationship is understandably... strained by this, her relationship with her crew only grows. With the knowledge on how to get through the Omega-4 Relay but no IFF drive with which to do it, there's time to do some housekeeping: a series of missions takes them around the galaxy at the behest of various crew members in order to gain their loyalty, the only failing of which is Miranda Lawson. After the destruction of a Cerberus research facility where the powerful biotic Jack was held as a child, Jack and Miranda's bickering reaches a crescendo. Knowing a thing or two about being a kid alone in the world, Shepard sides with Jack and Miranda resents her for it. On the other hand, over the course of these missions, Shepard finds herself growing close to the drell assassin Thane Krios. After successfully helping him save his son, the two of them enter into a relationship.
When the presence of a derelict Reaper is discovered, Shepard can finally get her IFF transponder to pass through the Omega-4 relay. An inactive geth is also recovered. Shepard activates it and the geth, known by the designation "Legion", joins her squad. While the IFF is installed into the Normandy's systems, Shepard and her squad leave on a shuttle to do one last mission: helping Legion to destroy a Reaper virus meant to turn the rest of the geth into heretics like the ones currently fighting against organic life. The virus is stopped and the heretic geth are rewritten. However, while Shepard is away, the Normandy is attacked by Collectors. Only Joker manages to escape being captured by the Collectors; with EDI's assistance, they get the Normandy away from the Collector's ship.
Shepard and her squad rejoin the Normandy and they use the Omega-4 relay to go after the kidnapped crew. They manage to make it to the Collector base in time and successfully rescue the crew. As they make their way to the heart of the Collector base, they discover the Reapers are creating a new Reaper made from the genetic material of the humans collected from the colonies - humans ground up to their basest elements to create a monster. With a few squad mates defending the door, the machine powering the human Reaper is destroyed and Shepard prepares to detonate the Collector's base. However, the Illusive Man contacts her and urges her to instead sterilize the base so the information it holds can be preserved and used in turn to fight the Reapers. Shepard refuses - she destroys the human Reaper and escapes the Collector's base before it detonates. However the mission to the Collector base doesn't come without casualties: Miranda is killed while helping defend the door.
Back on the Normandy, the Illusive Man criticizes Shepard for her choice to destroy the Collector base. Shepard essentially tells him to go to hell - but regardless humanity now has made itself a massive target and out in the far reaches of the universe, in the dark space beyond the galaxy, the Reapers awaken and make for their final attack.
MASS EFFECT 2: Arrival
Soon after the return to Citadel space, Shepard receives a confidential transmission for Admiral Hackett of the Alliance Military requesting her to make for a secret Batarian prison to rescue Dr. Amanda Kenson, a deep cover Alliance operative with information about the Reaper invasion who is being held with charges of terrorism. When pressed about the Alliance's position on the existence of Repears, Hackett confesses that officially they still don't exist - but he trusts Kenson and she and her team reported finding something that she believed to be Reaper technology. This is, he stresses, all unofficial. Shepard is simply going in alone 'to rescue a friend' and nothing more.
Once Shepard arrives at the prison on Aratoht, she stealths her way into and through the prison. On her way to Dr. Kenson, she overhears guards talking about how 'someone tried to destroy a Mass Relay' which is 'impossible' except 'humans would do anything and they should make an example of the one they have'. Eventually Shepard reaches the room where a batarian guard is interrogating Kenson. Knocking out the guard, Kenson is liberated - and alarms go off, meaning she and Shepard have to fight their way out of the prison. Typical. They manage to fight their way to the hangar and hijack a shuttle. During the flight, it's revealed that the terrorist charges were in fact true: Kenson and her team did plan to destroy the Mass Relay in batarian space. While investigating reports of Reaper tech on the fringes of the system, they discovered evidence that when the Reapers arrived they would use the Mass Relay - the 'Alpha Relay' - to travel across the system. By destroying the Alpha Relay by crashing a nearby asteroid into it, they could slow down the reaper invasion by months or years. Unfortunately it would come at great cost: the energy released from a destroyed mass relay would likely kill anyone living in the system - all 300,000 of them. When questioned how they learned all this, Kenson reports they learned it from the Reaper artifact dubbed 'Object Rho.' Though Shepard is worried about indoctrination of Kenson's team, the Doctor insists they were very careful when handling the artifact. All in all the question is not whether they "can" destroy the Mass Relay, but rather whether they "should." The Reapers will, Kenson believes, arrive regardless but destroying the Alpha relay will serve to considerably slow their advance, potentially giving the rest of the galaxy time to prepare for a war they're not expecting.
Shepard, needing to see proof before she allows Kenson to go destroying an entire system, is taken to the projects base of operations. There she's shown Object Rho and receives a vision of Reapers moving to invade. Except, whoops - Kenson and her team are totally indoctrinated. Kenson turns on Shepard, saying she should see now why she can't allow Shepard to stop the invasion. Despite a fight to escape, Shepard is downed and taken captive by the indoctrinated science team. Kenson orders she be patched up and Shepard eventually wakes up in a lab not unlike the one in the Cerberus compound. With the Reapers quite literally on their way, Shepard fights her way out of the lab and through the base to the project controls so she can launch the asteroid at the Mass Relay. Through a series of events that aren't video game-y in the slightest, Shepard attempts to warn the colonists in the system about the imminent destruction of the Relay but fails when she has to face off with Kenson. Nonetheless, the asteroid's engines are activated and it's set on a collision course, Kenson is killed, and Shepard manages to get airlifted off the rock by the Normandy and to escape through the Relay just before the asteroid collides with it - destroying the system and killing anyone in it, but delaying the Reaper invasion.
Back on the Normandy, Hackett requests a debrief. Shepard explains the recent events to him, including that she tried to warn the colonists but ran out of time. When questioned, she asserts that the Reaper invasion is a threat - and that it was only averted this time by a matter of minutes. But this is all unofficial, unconfirmed and Hackett asserts that the batarians are 'out for blood.' They can't afford a war with the batarians if the Reapers really are prepping an invasion and Shepard makes a perfect scapegoat. Eventually she'll have to go to Earth to 'face the music' of destroying an entire populated system. Shepard opts to surrender herself willingly to the mercy of the Alliance brass.
MASS EFFECT 3
Five months later, Shepard is being detained in a Systems Alliance facility in good ol' Vancouver when deep space Alliance outposts beyond the Sol system start to go quiet. Admiral Anderson arrives in Vancouver to escort Shepard to a meeting with an Alliance defense committee. Only before they get very far, Luna base goes quiet and Reapers zoom down to Earth. A Reaper lands in Vancouver, blasts the Alliance facility and kills most of the defense committee. Shepard and Anderson manage to escape with their lives, contacting Kaidan Alenko to meet at the Normandy (currently in dry dock being retrofitted for use as an Alliance ship). Anderson opts to stay behind on Earth to help with the war effort that will no doubt be happening on the surface of the planet, but he sends Shepard (with Alenko, marine Lieutenant James Vega and a host of other new faces - thanks Bioware) off with the Normandy to get into contact with the Citadel Council to bring back reinforcements for the war on Earth. While lifting off from Earth, Shepard spots refugees (including a child) making for a shuttle to escape the invasion. The shuttle is destroyed not long after takeoff, apparently killing everyone inside including the young boy (who will later feature prominently in Shepard's stress dreams).
After escaping from Earth, Shepard receives a priority message from Admiral Hackett ordering her to make for the Prothean Archives in Mars where Liara T'Soni, an old friend from ye olde Mass Effect 1, has discovered information that may help turn back the invasion. Except, surprise (no one is surprised), Cerberus is there too. Kaidan Alenko, still suspicious of Shepard's involvement with Cerberus, takes this opportunity to grill Shepard about the organization and their intention. Shepard rebuffs him, tired of explaining herself. In the race to get the technology before Cerberus does (a race which Shepard wins), Kaidan is badly injured by a Cerberus agent(/sexy robot - thanks Bioware). On the plys side Shepard and her team successfully recovered the information from the archives, detailing a schematic for a Prothean device later deemed 'The Crucible.' With the data recovered and transmitted to Hackett, Shepard resumes her trip to the Citadel. Upon arrival, Kaidan is tossed into Huerta Memorial Hospital to hopefully recover from his traumatic sexy robot attack while Shepard meets with the Council to talk shop.
Basically the Council tells Shepard they can't risk their own planet's defenses to aid Earth, particularly given they're banking on an unfinished prothean weapon (the 'Crucible' is incomplete, lacking a device dubbed 'The Catalyst'), but they're planning a war summit where they can talk strategy. Shepard flips a metaphorical table over the slow response, though the Turian Councilor later makes a deal with her independent of the Council: if she travels to the Menae, one of the moons of the turian homeworld, to fetch the Turian leader by the name of Primarch Fedorian, he will do his best to assure her some measure of turian support in the war for Earth. So she runs off to Menae where she a) finds out Fedorian is totally dead (figures), b) that her old pal Garrus is running around the planet as an official consultant on Reapers, and c) that the turian next in line for succession, General Victus, also happens to be on Menae. Sweet. They fight their way across a battlefield infested with Reaper forces to Victus, but he says he can't pull any turian forces away from Palaven for the sake of Earth without reinforcements - namely, krogan support.
What follows is a series of elaborate, politically charged fetch quests where Shepard attempts to keep as many people alive and happy as possible while garnering war assets for the sake of taking back Earth. Shepard reunites with her old flame, Thane Krios, in Huerta Memorial while visiting a recovering Kaiden Alenko. While she invites him to take his place on the Normandy again, Thane declines - citing his end stage Kepral as being too severe for him to be of much service to her cause. Kaidan, on the road to a full recovery, has been offered a position as a Spectre. Though his and Shepard's relationship is still distinctly chilly despite Shepard a heart-to-heart in the hospital, Shepard urges him to accept the assignment.
Meanwhile, re: the war effort: The involvement of the krogan mean the asari withdraw entirely from the war summit. When the krogan demand that the genophage - something developed by the salarians to limit the viability of krogan births - be reversed, the salarians withdraw much of their presence as well. However Shepard (and pretty much everyone else) believes they need the krogan if the war effort is to succeed and they agree to cure the genophage with the help of Mordin Solus, the krogan leader Urdnot Wrex (more old friends), a fertile female named 'Eve'. Eventually the genophage is cured (much drama, very touching), though Mordin is killed in the process (cue Bioware fans weeping for ten million years).
After the cure of the genophage, the Normandy and her crew make to return to the Citadel only to find the station worryingly silent. While scanning emergency channels, the Normandy receives a transmission from Thane explaining that Cerberus has attacked the Citadel in force. He reports that Kaidan has gone to protect the Council. Shepard et all zoom in on a shuttle and land in the middle of a heated stand off between Cerberus and Citadel Security. They eventually help liberate the C-Sec offices and are informed that the Salarian Councilor was supposed to meet the Executor to prosecute a high profile individual. With the Salarian Councilor in danger, it's a race to reach her before someone else does.
The moment they reach the Executor's office where the Salarian Councilor is holed up, the Councilor reveals that Udina is staging a coup with the aid of Cerberus and intends to help off the other Councilors and is, therefore, a big huge traitor (gasp! shock! no one is really surprised; I mean have you seen his in game model?). Promptly thereafter, they're all attacked by the Cerberus operative/master assassin/future sunglasses wearing Kai Leng who is under orders to assassinate the Council. However before Kai Leng can do the deed, Thane Krios shows up and saves the day by driving him back long enough for Shepard to get the Councilor to safety. Unfortunately, Thane gets skewered in the process.
Kai Leng retreats to pursue the rest of the Council and Shepard chases after him. Managing to delay the assassin, Shepard, Garrus and Liara reach the Council before he can. The Councilors (including Udina) are being escorted to a shuttle pad by newly minted Spectre, Kaidan Alenko. Shepard locks the door to the shuttle pad to keep Cerberus from entering and what follows is a standoff as Shepard tries to convince the Councilors and Kaidan of Udina's treachery while Udina tries to convince Kaidan that Shepard is still loyal to Cerberus. Kaidan, eager to defend his charges and uncertain of Shepard's alignment, draws his weapon on Shepard as Udina goes to override the door lock. Shepard tries to convince him otherwise, but he refuses to stand down. She can't pull the trigger-- but Liara can. She shoots Kaidan, mortally wounding him, and Shepard fires on and kills Udina before he can override the lock on the shuttle pad door. Shepard makes for Kaidan, asking him why he wouldn't just stand down; Kaidan responds that Udina couldn't defend himself. Shepard tells him 'It's been an honor.'
With the coup attempt foiled and the Citadel retaken from Cerberus, Shepard makes for Huerta Memorial where Thane is in critical condition. The doctors report that due to heavy blood loss combined with the effects of his end stage Kepral's Syndrome, that he won't recover. Shepard and Thane's son pray with him on his death bed - a prayer not for Thane but for Shepard and the road she will soon have to travel.
Efforts to discover the secret of the Catalyst and the construction of the Crucible double down in light of the attempted takeover of the Citadel. Hackett reports that though the krogan reinforcements are doing a decent job of aiding the war effort on Palaven, that they require more troops and have received word that the Quarian Migrant Fleet is willing to talk. Shepard is sent to meet with the Admirals of the fleet - including an old friend and new Admiral, Tali'Zorah vas'Normandy - to barter an aid agreement. In exchange for Quarian aid in the war against the Reapers, Shepard must help the Quarians reclaim their homeworld Rannoch from their centuries long enemy, the Geth (AIs, oooh. Aaah). Everyone in the audience is like IS THIS REALLY THE TIME, QUARIANS? but the answer to that question, given the war they've already launched with the geth, is apparently a resounding yes. Thanks guys.
It turns out the quarians had managed to push the geth all the way back to their home system, however at that point a signal began to be transmitted that upped the AIs fighting capabilities significantly. Determining that the signal is Reaper tech, Shepard and company board the geth dreadnought and find Legion, the geth AI who helped destroy the Collector's base a game ago a few months ago, being used to broadcast the signal. They free Legion, disable the signal and bring down the shields of the dreadnought in a good faith gesture. One of the quarian admirals promptly orders an attack on the ship despite the fact that Shepard & Co are still inside. Shepard et all manage to escape and Shepard kindly rewards the admiral in question by popping him one in the jaw. Legion also explains that though the signal has been interrupted long range, there is still a base on Rannoch itself that continues to broadcast the signal. So Shepard etc take a jaunt down to the planet, learn a little about the roots of the bitter geth/quarian relationship, destroy a reaper, and in the end manage to adapt the reaper signal to allow the geth to have fully formed senses of self rather than operating as a single collective unit - and finally broker a peace between the warring factions once and for all. Unfortunately (because Bioware has already made everyone cry a few times and they figure they might as well keep that ball rolling), Legion must sacrifice himself for the sake of adapting the reaper transmission.
Following the resolution of the war between the quarians and geth, the asari Councilor requests that Shepard make her way to the asari home planet, Thessia, where they have been guarding a secret that may reveal the nature of the Catalyst desperately needed to complete the Crucible and turn back the Reaper invasion. Shepard & Co (notably including Liara, aka the resident asari) arrive at Thessia to find it in the midst of a Reaper invasion. They travel to the temple of Athame and discover that the artifact the Councilor sent them to find was in fact...Prothean technology. By neglecting to share the technology with the rest of Council space, Asari has technically broken all kinds of Council laws-- but frankly, Shepard has bigger fish to fry. The artifact is a Prothean beacon and once fully activated, a Prothean VI called Vendetta. When questions about the Crucible and Catalyst, Vendetta explains that neither is technically Prothean technology - but rather the result of hundreds of cycles of life and destruction, slowly pieced together despite the ever returning Reapers, the repeating culling of intelligent life. Vendetta says that the Reapers are not the origin of this destruction, but are simply serving a creator; while it can't identify the creator, its goal seems to be only galactic annihilation of sentient life.
Unfortunately before Vendetta can specify what the Catalyst is, it detects an indoctrinated presence in the temple and shuts down. Cue: Kai Leng on orders to retrieve the same data that Shepard is after. A fight ensues, though Cerberus gunships tip the scales in Kai Leng's favor by bringing the temple down around their ears. Scrambling to save themselves from the collapsing structure, Shepard and company fail to stop Kai Leng as he makes off with the data from the VI. Shepard and her team watch helplessly as Kai Leng escapes and the Reapers descend for a final attack on Thessia. Once they manage to escape to the Normandy, Shepard eventually has to take a call from the asari Councilor eager to hear the results of the mission. Shepard is forced to confess that they failed to collect the data due to Cerberus' interference. Realizing that Thessia, the homeworld of asari knowledge and culture, may be lost forever, the Councilor sadly cuts communication and leaves Shepard to her failure.
TL;DR CHOICE SUMMARY
Shepard is Earthborn and the Sole Survivor of a thresher maw attack on Akuze.
Shepard frees the Rachni Queen on Noveria.
Vimire: Wrex lives; Ashley Williams dies.
The Council is saved during the Reaper attack on the Citadel. Udina is recommended for the human seat on the Council.
Shepard wins everyone's loyalty in the events leading up the to the Suicide Mission to destroy the Collector Base, however due to a conflict between Jack and Miranda she falls out of favor with Miranda.
Miranda dies during the suicide mission, but the Normandy's crew is saved.
The Collector Base is destroyed.
Jack's students are sent to support roles.
The Rachni Queen is savedagain jfc start pulling your own weight here, Rachni Queen. You're worth a lot of War Asset points for someone who just gets kidnapped constantly.
Samara doesn't commit suicide.
The genophage is cured.
Kaidan Alenko is killed defending Councilor Udina.
The quarian-geth conflict is resolved peacefully.
APPLICABLE DLC & OUTCOMES (In an attempt to keep this section from stretching on for miles, I'll only be listing narrative-heavy DLC relevant to this Shepard here. Things like The Firewalker Pack that have minor effect on the plot or Shepard's character won't be mentioned. Details about the plot of each DLC can be found HERE)
Normandy Crash Site
Zaeed: The Price of Revenge - Zaeed is a not allowed to kill Vido, but Shepard manhandles him into being loyal anyway.
Kasumi: Stolen Memory - The graybox is destroyed and Kasumi is loyal.
Project Overlord - David is rescued and taken to Grissom Academy. Archer is not killed.
Lair of the Shadow Broker
Arrival - Shepard attempts to warn the colonists and surrenders willingly.
From Ashes - Javik watches the memory shard.
Leviathan - Ann Bryson is not incapacitated and the Enthrallment Team is gained as War Asset.
Omega - General Petrovsky is apprehended (and Aria doesn't mack on Shepard - clearly not renegade enough :,C)
✖ Character Personality: For anyone familiar with the Mass Effect canon, Shepard currently falls somewhat onto the 'Paragade' end of the Bioware morality scale. Generally speaking, she is considerate and sensitive (or as close to it as possible given her somewhat brusque, direct persona) to those who are important to her or she deeply trusts, impatient and tending toward minor acts of violence when dealing with those she doesn't have a close relationship to. She adheres to principals of duty and honor and all that crap, but she's also impatient and prefers to draw direct lines between point A and point B - meaning she'll knock a few heads together if it means accomplishing her goals. In summary: the ends justify the means and the only reason she's nudged over into the Paragon end of things is due to her personal relationships rather than her handling of situations of particular galactic importance.
More specifically, Shepard is forward motion personified. Hers is an exercise in duty and honor while simultaneously disregarding both if it means doing better than either of those concepts would allow her to. As a relic of her time spent roving in gangs and looking out for her own well-being, Shepard is obedient to her superiors when they demand her respect (crossing Anderson, for example, would be unthinkable) and dismissive of those in positions of authority when she thinks they don't deserve it (how many times can someone hang up on the Council or smart mouth back at the individual personally funding her Reaper vendetta? I don't know; let's try it a lot and see how far we get). She is strength and persistence in what is nonetheless the vulnerable body of a woman characterized by the triumphs and failings of one: she is passionately protective of her friends should they return her affection with their loyalty, loving deeply while simultaneously flawed by her own experiences and bias. For example, she cherishes Kaidan's friendship but the moment he questions her own loyalty, she takes that hurt to heart. Shepard finds forgiveness difficult and reaching out to rebuild mostly-burned bridges is tantamount to pulling teeth. She values honesty and forthrightness, but that sometimes makes her out to be blunt and unapproachable. If someone doesn't take her word as true, she's easily offended.
Despite her strong sense of self, Shepard is quick to disregard her own safety for that of others even if it's not necessarily the most prudent decision to make. She did the last man standing thing once before - riding in the shuttle from Akuze and getting renown for it like she'd done something remarkable by not dying - and doesn't like the idea of doing it again. More to the point: she doesn't save much consideration for herself when there are more important things to worry about, to accomplish. She needs to take care of her crew, her ship, her paperwork, her planet. And while she would insist that she trusts the people around her to do their duty (and to an extent she does: trusts Garrus to not miss a shot, Liara to be brilliant in tight spots, Tali to be loyal to the end), she is inherently a micro manager and counts on her body to fall in line with what she requires of it, no arguments. In all other things she tends to be sensible or least has reasoning that's easily understood. She is cautious when it counts (she isn't stupid - sometimes it's a tactical advantage to hold rather than charge) and ballsy when it doesn't. She doesn't suffer fools lightly; if you're not a friend and looking for trouble, she'll happily let you find it.
That said, because of her own internalized sense of duty and What's Right, Shepard can be less open minded than she thinks she is. She tends to value instinct over logic, quick decisive action over anything else; Shepard's no diplomat and while her priorities are generally good ones, she can be critical of the things she doesn't deem pressing or necessary even when they're important to others. Consequently, she takes failure hard. If she missteps, she'll quietly punish herself for it in her off hours. If she gets a friend killed, she'll not only remember the wound by jealously guard it, keeping it open and bloody through repeated examination. The result is a woman who, despite her leadership capabilities and generally determined outlook on life, finds sharing her own personal issues difficult if not impossible. She isn't a confessor - she compartmentalizes until she can't. She doesn't share; instead she holds herself to a rigid performance standard and at night dreams of dead children, old friends, and her home world burning.
Which isn't to say that Shepard is a serious commanding officer one hundred percent of the time. While her sense of humor may be a little black and increasingly dry, but she does have one. She's generous with her time and eager to listen, eager to ask questions (even if she might deem your opinions kind of stupid once they leave your mouth). She's a soldier - she knows about sacrifice and duty and honor, but she also knows about shore leave and laughing with friends; having too many shots in bars; the value of playing a really excellent hand of cards when it counts (and that the appeal isn't just in the credits won, but the look on someone's face when she does it - call it a bad habit or a little self indulgence, but she kind of likes winning).
Ultimately, Shepard is simple. She pushes when pushed, she bites when bitten, she loves and is loved. She gives what she gets.
✖ Character Powers & Skills: S K I L L S
N7 MARINE - Since joining the Alliance Military at 18, Shepard has had extensive training in her field. In addition to basic training, Shepard has underground and passed multiple courses of specialized Marine training at the Interplanetary Combat Trainings school (otherwise known as "N-School" or, colloquially, "The Villa"). The training at N-School is rigorous: candidates train for 20 hours a day with little food or sleep, leading small combat teams through hostile territory in order to earn just an N1 ranking. Subsequent rankings cover Zero-G training, diving, combat instructions, linguistics, frontline medical training for human and alien bioligy etc. To say that N7 officers are respected among the Systems Alliance Military is an understatement; they're the best of the best and tend to be disgustingly well-rounded when it comes to combat and survival scenarios.
DAMN GOOD SHOT - Something of a subsidiary of the above, but it nearly goes without saying that Shepard is excellent marksman. That said, she prefers assault rifles and heavy pistols over longer range weaponry, so the latter tends to come with some initial growing pains.
HAND TO HAND - Again, see above. But specifically Shepard has extensive training in hand to hand and short blade combat (specifically: the use of an omniblade).
P O W E R S
OCCULAR SYNAPTIC PROCESSORS - Shepard is fitted with military standard occular enhancements that give her the ability to hone in on a target in combat. Pretty much all this means is that her eyeball has a scope in it that improves her markmanship.
CYBERNETIC IMPLANTS - Courtesy of Cerberus, Shepard has been fitted with a wide array of cybernetic implants. While this doesn't improve her performance into anything super human (she's not going to be punching her way through doors any time soon), they do project her into the top performance percentile of human ability. Thanks, Illusive Man. Downside: her face gets a little weird when she's in a bad mood.
"Then I should be going. Plans must be put in motion. Continuity of civilization has to be considered--" There's something hollow in the Asari Councilor's expression that might be lost on a low fidelity unreliable channel, but that the quantum entanglement comm translates with perfect clarity. Her voice flattens. "I never imagined this day would come."
It brushes on something raw and bloody in her. In the quiet of the communications hub, Shepard presses her palms hand into the edges of the comm panel. It's grounding, weighted. If she holds there for long enough, she'll figure out how to put this on a shelf and not think about it. She'll figure out where they go from here. Instead Shepard opens her mouth, looking to the Asari Councilor: "None of us did. I'm" --and the connection disconnects, the Councilor fracturing away into bits and particles-- "sorry."
It might be the first time a member of the Council has hung up on her instead of the other way around; there's no humor in the thought. Shepard peels a hand away from the console, absently touching her fingers to her forehead, her hairline. Thanks to her armor and gloves there's no sign of how she clawed her way up out of the debris of the temple - no dirt under her nails, no bloody fingertips. She hasn't had the patience to stop in at medical to have Chakwas sign off on her mission end and likely won't for a while, but without looking at a mirror she'd guess any physical damage sustained is minimal. Superficial. Not worth the trouble.
"Commander?" Traynor's voice on the Normandy comm is tentative. For a second Shepard considers reprimanding her for it. "There's a priority message coming through. Would you like me to connect you?"
"Who's it from?" Hackett, she thinks. The Asari Councilor will have sent him a message about the loss of the Catalyst data.
"I'm afraid I'm not certain, Commander. EDI and I are trying to break the encryption on the signal now, but it's eluding us. I can tell you that it appears to be a clean transmission."
Cerberus. Shepard straightens, sets her jaw. "Put him through." If the Illusive Man wants to come to throw his weight around, she'll tell him right where to shove it. "And keep working on that encryption. See if you can trace the signal."
A moment later the entanglement field pieces itself together, sharp and clear, into the image of a woman wearing an unfamiliar uniform, colors drab through the comm field but recognizable for their unfamiliarity. The severe line of Shepard's shoulders maintains; her grip on the console re-solidifies.
"Who are you and how did you reach this channel?"
"Good day, Commander Shepard." It's not and there's something in the woman's face that says she knows. "My name is Doctor Emily Walker. I'm a representative for the Cosmic Demolition Crew and I have a proposal for you that I think you'll want to hear."
The only way someone could access this comm would be if they had their own quantum entanglement device - or a superior form of tech capable of hijacking the direct signal. She knows that nearly by instinct, but it doesn't stop Shepard from biting back. "I don't really have time for an infomercial right now, Doctor Walker." But also can't afford to simply cut the connection until Traynor can track it down. If this is garbage, she at least wants to be able to hunt down where it's coming from.
Shepard makes a show of reaching to cut the feed anyway. Walker's expression slips-- "Wait! I'm telling you that we can help you!"
She stills her hand, mouth thinning. Has anything good ever come from someone just showing up and volunteering aid? Shepard's starting to think that's a big 'negative.' "Make it fast, Walker."
And she does. There's something halting and anxious in the woman's tone as she rushes to make her point - practically tripping over herself to get what otherwise sound like thoughtfully prepared words out. "The CDC is a powerful organization charged with maintaining balance by retiring planets that no longer contribute positively to the well being of the universe at large. We work with a team of highly skilled operatives and consignees to successfully retire these planets and in exchange promise to grant one request of each consignees choosing at the completion of their contract. We're coming to you as we feel you'd be a considerable asset to our team." Walker sucks in a breath, ragged. The pause seems to throw her off, apparently leaving her uncertain as to how to continue. Rather than make a save, she opts to say nothing.
Bullshit, Shepard thinks. She cuts forward, frown steadily deepening. She doesn't have time for this. Kai Leng and that data on the Catalyst could be anywhere in the galaxy right now and here she is talking to a sales person. "What do you mean by 'retire?'"
"Demolish might be a succinct way of putting it." Walker makes it sound like a question, searching.
"You mean you destroy them." Shepard doesn't, her tone shifting into something steely - honed to a fine point.
"That's correct, Commander. But I assure you, the contract is binding. If you agree to work with us, we can guarantee your end mission request will be fulfilled."
And the image of her shifts, the entanglement field moving into something that shouldn't be possible - looping video and citing largely blacked out reports: planets neatly 'retired' and happy faces on personnel dressed in what must be the CDC uniform. It's an onslaught of information, too rapid to process. Cheerful employees, holes in the universe where planets once lay; men and women and alien life working together, fires burning and ice caps melting. Shepard finds herself stepping back from the console, something tight and dangerous growing in her chest. A system away, Thessia is burning and Walker is still talking: "-- I'm also pleased to say that the CDC consistently places in the top 100 in employment satisfaction polls."
"Walker!" It's sharp enough that the woman shuts up. The images fade, replaced once more by the Doctor's unassuming figure. Stepping back to the console, that tight knot in Shepard's chest rises-- "You said your company thought I'd be an asset. Meaning they know about my service record and my mission, is that right?
"That's right, Commander." The rote recitation of the pitch has instilled some of Walker's original confidence back in the woman. "Which means we know all about what happened to the Bahak system."
Ash in her mouth. "And you seriously think I'd do that again?"
Walker is certain. She nods. "If it meant saving your planet, we do. As I've shown you Commander - we're a very powerful organization." A beat of hesitation - something Shepard suspects might be there on purpose - and then she continues. "You can agree or disagree, but if you refuse to work with us then I'd have to regretfully inform you that your planet is slated next for retirement."
"Get in line, Walker." She wants to snarl it, but finds the knot of anger untangling - losing energy and form. She wets her lips, sucks in a breath. "If I agreed to work with you, would the CDC be able to use their technology to destroy the Reapers? Would that be possible?"
"With your help? Absolutely."
She can't tell if Walker is lying. Or maybe if she believes what she's saying without the power to actually back it up. But without the Catalyst, there's no guarantee the Crucible will work in the fight against the Reapers. If she can just side step the issue entirely-- anything capable of destroying a planet should be able to wipe a Reaper. She's shot one down. It's not impossible.
"I want to talk to your boss, Walker."
Something flickers from Walker's mouth through to the line of her brow. "You'll agree to work with us?"
Thessia is burning. Palaven is burning. Earth is burning and her fingernails are clean, her knuckles unbroken. "If you can promise me that the CDC will destroy the Reapers before they wipe out another planet in this galaxy, then yes."
She'll do whatever it takes.
CHARACTER ITEMS. ✖ Pick a Team: Green
✖ Reason for Joining the CDC: Staggered by the failure on Thessia and the string of personal losses, Shepard is gunning to reinforce the strength of the ranks against the Reaper invasion. When offered a task, she agrees readily: on the condition that the Demolition Crew agree to help retake Earth and turn back the Reapers once and for all. ✖ Mission Freebie: Shepard requests that the CDC help with the war effort to stop the Reaper invasion and take back earth. Basically: she wants the CDC as a war asset. ✖ Personal Item or Weapon: Her N7 Armor set.
✖ Character Inventory:
x1 Omni-tool with three (3) medi-gel cartridges confiscated x1 N7 Alliance dogtags x1 Alliance battledress uniform
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